LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- On the first official day of what could be his final training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defensive tackle Warren Sapp on Saturday left no doubt that he would prefer to finish his career with the franchise that ushered him into the league, when it selected him in the first round of the 1995 draft.

Miller on shelf

With his surgically-repaired shoulder still not fully rehabilitated, quarterback Jim Miller has been placed on the NFL's active physically-unable-to-perform list by the Tampa Bay Bucs, and likely will not throw at all in training camp. Signed as an unrestricted free agent, the former Chicago Bears starter likely will miss the first six games of the regular season. But there is little doubt that coach Jon Gruden wants to keep Miller around, possibly as a late-season insurance policy, and the Bucs staff will exercise some patience with the veteran passer. Miller, 32, had rotator cuff surgery in January, and had been working out diligently since signing with the Bucs. He has been a regular at the team's complex, virtually the entire offseason. About two months ago, his shoulder had progressed to the point where he could throw short passes without much velocity on them, but the joint then developed swelling and soreness. Miller allowed that he may have become "a little overzealous" in his quest to be fully recovered by camp. The move means that four-year veteran Shaun King will open the season as the primary backup to starter Brad Johnson, and it could also open a roster spot for third-round draft pick Chris Simms of Texas. In 2000, King started all 16 games for the Bucs, led the team to a wild card playoff spot, and a berth in the NFC championship game that year. -- Len Pasquarelli

But the highest-profile star in the Bucs glistening firmament acknowledged as well, after considerable prodding about his current contract status, that he would play elsewhere if the team opts not to sign him to an extension.

"There are 32 teams in the league," said Sapp, between the Bucs' two Saturday practices. "You don't think I'd find a job (somewhere else)? Next question."

Judging from the tone of Saturday's inquisition, though, the question of Sapp's contract, and, thus, of his long-term future with the defending Super Bowl champions, will not be so cavalierly dismissed. The colorful eight-year veteran is entering the final season of a six-year, $36 million contract and is due a base salary of $6.6 million for 2003.

The two sides have talked, but discussions haven't yet reached the substantive stage, and it might be hyperbole to refer to dialogue to this point as hard negotiations. Agent Drew Rosenhaus emphasized on Saturday morning, hours before his client's remarks, that the timeframe for negotiations is not pressing, since Sapp and the Bucs won't face the specter of free agency until weeks after the '03 campaign concludes.

Rosenhaus noted that Bucs officials "are emphatic" that Sapp will finish what might be a Hall of Fame career with the franchise.

That said, there are circumstances that could preclude an extension, and that could lead to an eventual split between the Bucs and one of the primary catalysts for the reversal of the once-moribund franchise.

Among them: Sapp, who wasn't as effective at times in 2002 as he had been early in his career, will be 31 years old at the end of the season. After nine seasons, his skills likely will have diminished somewhat, and there could be some question as to how much longer he would be able to play at a starter's level. Perhaps most significant, fellow defensive tackle Anthony McFarland is also in the final year of his contract and the Bucs will need to extend his deal. At just 25 years of age, McFarland is significantly younger than Sapp, and some coaches in the league feel the emerging star is a more dominant defender now than his famous teammate.

Retaining both the starting defensive tackles, and fitting them into a salary cap that was stretched to the limits this summer, will be a difficult chore for general manager Rich McKay and his front office staff. The Bucs remain publicly insistent, however, that it can be accomplished.

One option might be to designate Sapp a "franchise" player if an extension isn't reached but, at his salary level, that would carry an exorbitant one-year price tag of $7.92 million.

Their ardor for keeping Sapp around might have been increasingly fueled on Saturday, when he appeared on the field seemingly with his weight significantly down from levels of recent seasons, and in terrific shape. While the Bucs weren't in pads for the morning session, Sapp looked very quick, especially in a few pass-rush drills.

Sapp said that, despite some whispers to the contrary, he never considered boycotting the start of camp because of his contract situation. Like many of his teammates, he noted that the Bucs have taken seriously the defense of their Super Bowl XXXVII title, and allowed that a repeat would further bolster the claim that the defense is one of the best of all-time.

He astutely pointed out the 1986 Chicago Bears defense actually posted superior statistics to those of the '85 Super Bowl championship unit. But the '85 defense is more celebrated because it claimed a title.

"Hey, we were good for seven years, but nobody (rated) us among the best defenses in history until we won the Super Bowl last year," Sapp said. "That's what made us. But we don't want to be like the Bears or the Ravens (of 2000), where you win it once, and then that's it. This team, me included, worked our asses off in the offseason."

What he will not work too hard at, Sapp said, is lobbying for the contract extension. That is a task he will delegate to others, like Rosenhaus, and perhaps the media, which will not allow the issue to lie fallow for long.

In typical Sapp fashion, he said it would be a "shitty" feeling to have to leave the Bucs, and cited himself, linebacker Derrick Brooks, strong safety John Lynch and some others as having rebuilt the moribund franchise from the ground up. But whether he stays or not, beyond this season, isn't exactly a unilateral decision.

And while Sapp would exit regrettably, if a divorce occurs, he plans to play this season without allowing negotiations to be a distraction. Out of his hands, the contract talks will also be out of his consciousness, he insisted. Life after the 2003 season, with or without the Bucs, will indeed go on.

"Look, I'm not in their beating on (McKay's) door every day," Sapp said. "I was a full-grown man before I ever got (drafted) by these people. I'll be all right. But they decide what they want, how they want it, who they want. That's their call. I don't own this team. I just play here."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.